


take me home (to the place I belong)

by SoccerSarah01



Series: no matter where we go (we always find our way back home) [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: (kinda - the only difference is Ace visits dawn with his crew when we know he didn't in canon), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brothers, Family, Fluff, Gen, I love these bros so much, Luffy Being Luffy, SO MUCH FLUFF, Self-Indulgent, so here's 11.5k of them plus the whitebeards being dumb together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27087100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoccerSarah01/pseuds/SoccerSarah01
Summary: “Gomu Gomu no…Pistol!”Luffy’s fist hits the boulder with a satisfying crunch, destroying the top half of it completely, and Ace feels pride fill him as Luffy lets out a loud cheer at his success.“Not bad,” Thatch mutters consideringly, and Ace smiles proudly as Marco nods in agreement.His little brother has grown strong.He’d be lying if it didn’t make him feel relieved.Luffy’s about to rear up for another punch to destroy the rest of it,stillnot having noticed them, (Ace snickers internally at the fact that his brother is just as spatially unaware as he used to be), when Ace calls out, “Don’t mess up!”Luffy, of course, completely messes up, punching way wide and almost punching himself in the face as he whirls around to face Ace. He looks eerily like his seven-year-old self as he stares at Ace, his confused head-tilt on full-force. Then, recognition shines in his eyes, and Ace grins as his little brother’s face lights up, a beaming smile appearing on his face.“Ace!”-(Or: Ace and the Whitebeards visit Dawn Island a couple months before Luffy sets out, and shenanigans happen.)
Relationships: Dadan & Portgas D. Ace, Dadan & Portgas D. Ace & Monkey D. Luffy, Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco & Portgas D. Ace & Thatch, Makino & Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace
Series: no matter where we go (we always find our way back home) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977007
Comments: 47
Kudos: 425





	take me home (to the place I belong)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> So this fic has been in the works for a while - I've always loved it when the Whitebeards and Ace and Luffy interact, and I also love brotherly shenanigans, so this fic was born!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“So this is where you grew up, huh?”

Ace glances to the side as Marco leans against the railing beside him, looking contemplatively at the island that the Moby Dick is nearing. He smiles. “Yeah, this is Dawn.”

_Ace stares at Pops in shock. “Wait,” he says, slowly. “We’re going back to the East Blue?”_

_“Yup,” Marco says, grinning at Ace’s shock. A slow grin makes its way onto Ace’s face, excitement flooding his veins. He’ll get to see Dawn?_

_See_ Luffy _?_

_“Don’t we have to stay here to guard our territory? I mean, we are an Emperor’s crew, after all,” Ace asks, smile dimming a bit._

_Marco shrugs, hands in pockets and lopsided grin on his face. “We have allied crews to do that for us; I’m not too worried about it.”_

_Ace smiles, then, bright and eager. He gets to go_ home _again! And he gets to introduce his new family to his old one!_

_“Plus,” Marco adds, “It’s really useful for getting a change of scenery every so often.”_

_Ace pointedly looks around, then gives Marco a deadpan stare. “‘Change of scenery?’” He asks, skeptical._

_The weather has changed five times in the past hour._

_Marco huffs._

_“Okay, it’s also nice_ _to get out of the New World every once in a while. Happy?”_

_“Yup!” Ace says cheekily._

_Marco, faster than lightening, grabs him and brings him into a fierce noogie. “Little shit,” Marco says, but Ace laughs. Marco’s tone is warm._

_He loves his family, so much._

Being brought of his memories by the rising noise-level around him, Ace says, “We should probably dock away from Goa.” Anger still rises in him at the thought of those nobles – of the people who had aided in killing his best friend, his _brother_ , plus the hundreds of others who died during the Fire.

He barely tempers it, and continues, voice tight, “We can probably dock safely at Windmill Village. I know a lady there that will vouge for us.”

_Plus,_ Ace thinks, _the fact that the Shanks’ crew had docked there a while ago will hopefully make this easier._

Nodding, Marco turns and starts shouting orders at the crew to direct them towards the small village coming into sight to the left of them. Ace watches as the island draws closer, memories floating to the surface as he notices more and more things about the island he had missed. The mountains where he and Luffy (and Sabo, for a time) had grown up rise to the left, and Ace remembers fondly the years of memories that had been made there.

Kotatsu rubs against his legs, and he absentmindedly scratches him behind the ears as his crew moves around behind him. “Wanna come with me, huh?” He asks, watching as the island comes closer and closer. Kotatsu rubs his head once more against him before promptly walking away.

Ace chuckles, taking that as a _no_.

Ace turns, leaning against the railing and watching Kotatsu jump up into his Pops’ lap. Kotatsu loves the large lap that Whitebeard can offer, and takes advantage of it as much as possible, much to Ace’s amusement.

He turns back towards the sea and sets eyes on Windmill Village, buildings finally distinguishable and easily-identifiable. Ace smiles at the sight of the bar where he and Luffy had spent a lot of their time comes into view. Makino had always been one of the kindest presences in his life, and he was glad when she was able to come up more often after Luffy moved up with them (he hid it, of course. He wasn’t about to show his gratefulness that easily back then).

Faint yelling becomes audible, and Ace sighs as he registers the panic that is radiating from the village. Ace makes his way over to where Striker is lashed to the ship, hopping onto it and calling up, “I’m gonna go reassure them!”

Fire blazes, and, adrenaline singing in his veins, Ace grins, ramping up speed. Striker, faithful and true ever since that very first island, is always a fun ride.

Striker’s a good ship – carrying him all the way, whether it’s towards an enemy, or coming back home after a victory, or whether it’s just surfing around, feeling the wind whip his hair around and freedom sing in his veins. Sometimes he can almost swear Striker’s laughing with him, and he laughs along with her, reveling in the joy that floods him when he rides it.

Unfortunately, this ride is rather short, and he has to slow soon enough to dock.

Well, slow down is a bit of a misnomer – he more swerves Striker so that she stops suddenly, splashing the shore as she does so.

Thankfully, there’s no one in the line of fire when he stops, but a crowd of people is gathering around the dock as he lashes Striker to the dock, ensuring she’s secure before standing up, revealing his face for the first time since arriving. A gasp sounds from the crowd, and before anyone can react, a familiar barmaid launches herself at him.

Ace laughs as he catches Makino, wrapping his arms around her back as she hugs him tightly. “Hi, Makino-san,” he says, grinning as the closest thing to an older sister he has clutches him even tighter at his words.

He tilts his head up to address the rest of the villagers, who are still looking at him in shock. “I joined the Whitebeards,” he says, hoping to reassure them as they shift their eyes to stare at the slowly approaching ship. “They won’t hurt you, don’t worry.”

The reassurance seems to do the trick, and most of the villagers disperse, some walking up to him and greeting him, grins on their faces. Ace laughs as they crack jokes about the leech clinging onto him, clapping him on the shoulder as Makino continues refusing to release him.

(He had missed her – he hadn’t realized how much he relied on her warmth and love, shining in her eyes whenever she would visit or they would visit her, until he left.

Ace’s so glad he gets to see her again.)

Makino finally detaches from him a couple moments later, looking up with him with a bright grin. “Welcome home, Ace,” she says warmly, and Ace smiles back at her, feeling warmth spread through him at the thought.

“Thanks, Makino-san.” Ace looks around, then, searching for any sign of his little brother, but not finding any. “Have you seen Luffy around lately?” His little brother loves coming to visit Windmill, but Ace also knows his brother is as flighty as the wind, so it’s anyone’s guess where he is at any given point, really.

Makino shakes her head, turning to lead him towards Party’s. “He came by yesterday, so I don’t know when he’ll come by next. You’re going to visit Dadan, though, right?” Ace winces slightly at the thought, but nods, sighing internally at the thought of what he’s sure is going to be an emotional reunion.

( _Though Dadan will definitely do her best to hide it_ , Ace thinks amusedly.)

(He refuses to acknowledge how much he had missed his mother-figure and how he is definitely going to feel emotional as well.)

“Yeah,” Ace responds. “I’ll probably run into Luffy up there – there’s no way I’m going to miss out on a chance to see him, after all.”

Makino smiles and nods agreeably, before perking up, seemingly having realized something. “Oh, yeah! Not that I’m not happy to see you, Ace, but what are you doing here?”

Ace grins, saying cheerfully, “Apparently, we’re on vacation!” Makino laughs, not questioning the fact that they’re taking a vacation to East Blue, which is about as out of the way as you can get. An arm drops over his shoulder, and he grins at Thatch, who has appeared at his side.

“So, this is the ‘really nice and pretty lady’ you’ve told us about, huh?”

Ace blushes, heat rising in his face as Makino laughs. Thatch grins beside him, mission apparently accomplished, and swoops into a bow.

“Hello, my name is- _ack!_ ” Thatch squawks and falls ungracefully as he’s kicked in the back of the knee. Ace bursts out laughing as Marco comes up on his other side, smirking at Thatch, who lays on the ground.

His offended and baffled look makes Ace lose it even more.

“Oh my god, your _face,_ ” Ace chokes out, clutching his stomach and falling to his knees as he laughs.

Makino smiles as Marco grins lopsidedly, turning to face Makino as Thatch sits on the ground, still pouting. Marco continues his introduction, “The other idiot on the ground is Thatch, and I’m Marco, yoi. It’s great to meet you.”

Ace laughs at the description before processing the _‘other’_ in that statement. “Hey, what do you mean _other_ idiot?!”

Marco gives him a deadpan stare, “You attacked Pops for 100 days straight, getting knocked into the sea at _least_ that many times, and I can name at least fifteen times off the top of my head where you’ve done other dumbass things. Do I really need to go on?”

Ace pouts, and Makino laughs softly, holding out her hand for Marco to shake as she says, “It’s great to meet Ace’s family. I’m Makino.”

“We’ve heard. Ace has talked a lot about you, yoi.” Ace squawks in protest – Marco doesn’t need to _tell_ her that! “He’s only talked about his little brother more, so you must be really important to him.”

“Well, Ace is really important to me, too,” Makino says with a smile, and Ace flushes even more, the simple statement making warmth rush through him.

Thatch finally decides to quit his dramatics, clambering up onto his feet and sticking his hand out, finally deigning to properly introduce himself. Makino shakes his hand with a warm smile, before she turns, saying, “Well, let’s go inside so I can get some food in you.”

They walk into the bar, Marco and Makino chatting as if they’ve been best friends all their lives, and Thatch throws an arm around Ace’s shoulder, guiding them towards following them in.

“Pops is staying on the ship for now; the nurses are running some checks on him.” Ace nods, and they take seats as Makino serves up some drinks to them.

Thatch takes a swig of his drink before asking, “So, how’s it feel to be home?” Ace grins, glancing around as the rest of his crew starts filing into the bar, laughing and cheering. The villagers are peaking in, and Ace feels warmth as his crew invites them in without question, accepting them solely because Ace knows and trusts them.

“It feels pretty good,” Ace says, feeling warmth at seeing his family, old and new, all in the same spot.

(Well, there is a rather large chunk missing. He’ll remedy that later.)

Makino finishes serving up the drinks, and returns to the back of the bar, leaning against it and smiling at him.

“So, how about you tell me all about your adventures, hm?”

Ace shares a grin with Marco and Thatch, and leans forward eagerly.

“Okay, so it all started on this one island with _crazy_ currents…”

\----------------------------------------------------------------

“You know, you never told us you grew up with _mountain_ bandits,” Thatch huffs out, clutching at his side dramatically as he hobbles up the hill. Ace snickers at the sorry state his brother has been reduced to, and Marco sighs, rolling his eyes. He elbows Thatch in the side as he passes, and Thatch jerks to the side, letting out a whine.

“You’re the one who _chose_ to come with Ace and me, you know. Also, if you can’t handle this, I’m thinking someone will have to replace your spot as commander,” Marco says teasingly, and Ace bursts into laughter at the offended look on Thatch’s face.

He continues forward as Marco and Thatch continue bickering behind him, nostalgia washing over him as he soaks in the familiar scents of the forest surrounding him. He hadn’t realized how much he missed the familiarity of the birds chirping around him and the trees rustling around him, but now he feels it full-force as he walks through the trees.

His crewmates fade behind him as he passes through the clearing that he, Luffy, and Sabo had once fought and beaten the Tiger Lord in (he smiles sadly as he remembers the brother he had lost). Nostalgia overwhelms him as he picks his way through the forest, the trail just as familiar to him as it had been two years ago.

“ _Pfft,_ ” Ace snorts as he notices a specific tree – a tree that has a multitude of dents in it. Marco and Thatch pause in their marveling of the forest to look at him confusedly at him as he bursts out into laughter, running a fond hand over the marks in the tree.

“What’s so funny, yoi?” Marco asks.

Ace wipes the tears from his eyes, a huge grin on his face as he answers, “My little brother used to _absolutely suck_ at using his devil fruit. This is one of the many places we trained, and these dents are from where he launched himself into the tree accidentally.”

Thatch laughs, and even Marco cracks a grin as he asks, “He must have launched himself past you pretty often, then.”

Ace snorts before he can stop himself, remembering how exactly Luffy had caused those dents. “Oh, no, you misunderstand. This tree was mainly _behind_ him. And no, I still have no clue how he managed to do that.”

Thatch bursts into laugher, clutching at his stomach. “Oh my god, Ace, your brother sounds _amazing._ I absolutely must meet him now.” Marco laughs, too, and Ace grins at the reminder of how lucky he is to have friends, _family,_ he can share these moments with.

“Well, I don’t plan on leaving before at least saying ‘Hi’ to Luffy, so you’re in luck,” Ace says, turning and continuing towards Dadan’s. He still isn’t particularly looking forward to being forced to feel emotions (ugh) by seeing his mother-figure, but he knows that she will be _pissed_ if he doesn’t visit.

(Plus, finding Luffy would be a pain right now – he knows his brother, and he knows that he’s probably running and training all over the mountain right about now (or crashing Goa). He would not be easy to find if he searched for him.

They always used to train in the evenings where they did as kids. He’ll check over there later.)

Seeing the familiar signs that they’re nearing the Dadan Family Hut, he turns towards his brothers, and grins, saying, “You ready to meet the people who raised me?”

Marco and Thatch trade wary looks, and Ace laughs as Marco gives him a suspicious look. “You know, normally I would say yes without hesitation, but I have a feeling something’s off about this.”

Ace simply grins without answering, turning back towards the house and finally breaking into the clearing surrounding the hut. He smiles fondly at the sight of the “Countries” he and Luffy had created (he’s somewhat surprised that his is still there, he would have thought Dadan would have scrapped it for firewood as soon as he left).

He walks up to the door, about to knock when a sudden yell of, “ _Ace! Look out!_ ” sounds behind him, and he is only able to turn slightly in confusion before _something_ knocks him over. He flies into the door, knocking through it with a loud bang.

He groans as he lands face-first, shifting slightly as he recovers his breath from having it knocked out of him by… _whatever_ had launched into him. He then realizes that the surface is…soft? That’s…not what he’d consider the floor of the Dadan house to feel like. He hesitantly tilts his head up.

Dadan’s shocked face is staring up at him, and Ace stares blankly at her before swearing, pushing himself up and away from her, disregarding the weight on his back. He stands, brushing himself off and scrambling as far from her as possible.

That is _not_ an image he needed of the closest thing he has to a mother, thank you very much.

Dadan seems to be just as uncomfortable, staring at him in mild disgust as she stays on the ground, seemingly not having the desire to move. Ace suddenly processes the number of eyes staring at him, and smiles sheepishly. He rubs the back of his head, saying hesitantly, “Hi?”

Of course, that’s when that same thing that knocked him down once decides to do it again, thankfully _not_ knocking him into any human this time.

Instead, it’s a chair, and when its arm lodges itself in his sternum, Ace groans in pain.

_Why,_ he groans internally. _Why me._

He then pulls himself painfully off of the arm and turns, intent of giving whatever is causing all this embarrassment and pain a piece of his mind, and stops still in shock before grinning at what he sees.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

“Damn, is he okay?”

Thatch peers into the hut that his brother had barged into (well, been tackled into, and wasn’t that a sight), and catches a glimpse of Ace standing up, snickering Ace scrambles away from where he landed on who looks like the leader of the bandits, knocking the tiger that had launched him in the first place off of him with a yelp. The horrified look on his face makes Thatch want to burst into laughter, and, glancing at Marco, it seems he’s not alone.

Marco says amusedly, “He looks fine,” and Thatch has to agree, watching Ace flush red all the way down his face and chest and laughing at Ace’s pathetic excuse for a greeting. He’s about to yell out a teasing taunt when the same tiger that had tackled Ace before recovers, growling and throwing itself at Ace.

Ace grunts as he’s thrown into a chair, and Thatch winces at the thought of a chair to the sternum (though, really, Ace should have noticed the creature coming beforehand).

Ace groans in pain, slowly peeling himself off the chair and turning to face the tiger. Thatch is expecting there to soon be a charred corpse on the floor, but is shocked to see surprise, then a bright grin show on his brother’s face.

_What the hell?_

Thatch watches in shock as Ace shouts in joy, beaming and wrapping his arms around the tiger. His confusion only grows as the tiger, instead of attacking him again like he thought it would, starts purring, rubbing its face against Ace’s.

He turns to see whether Marco has any clue what the hell is going on, and is annoyed to find that all Marco has on his face is a small smile. “Do you know what the hell is going on? Why the hell is Ace hugging a tiger?!”

Marco gives him a deadpan look, and really, he doesn’t think he deserves that. This isn’t at _all_ a normal situation. “You do remember Ace came onto the Moby Dick with a pet lynx, right? I bet this is a pet that Ace left at home when he went out to sea, yoi.”

_Huh._

“…yeah, that would make sense,” Thatch admits reluctantly under his breath, and Marco snorts as they watch the tiger lick under Ace’s chin, startling a bright laugh from his younger brother.

(It’s the first time Thatch has seen Ace this bright and happy in a long time (or ever, really).

He’s glad.

Ace spends too much time sad, or angry, or brooding.

Ace looks younger, looks _freer_ , happy.

Thatch likes it when Ace’s smiling.)

Ace, patting his tiger on the side, stands, and, beaming at them, says, “Guys, this is my pet tiger, Sweet Pea!”

… _What?_

Ace, seeming not to notice the utter _insanity_ of what he just said, returns to loving on…Sweet Pea. Thatch and Marco share a bewildered look (normally, it would gratify Thatch that Marco looks as confused as he is for once, but he’s still stuck on what the _hell_ Ace had named his tiger).

_Sweet Pea?_ Really _?!_

Thatch steps forward, waving his hands as he tries to get _some_ semblance of an understanding of the situation. “Wait, let me get this straight. You named a tiger – which just tackled you _twice,_ might I remind you – _Sweet Pea_?!”

Ace nods, beaming as his pet tiger (and wow, Thatch never thought he’d say that combination of words together – a pet lynx is crazy enough) rubs her face aggressively against his face as Ace crouches down, having finally made his way outside.

Thatch snorts as Sweet Pea stuffs her nose in Ace’s ear, causing him to squawk and jerk away from her. She follows him, and they continue leaning and following until Ace is laid flat on the grass.

Sweet Pea sniffs around his head, circles around him, and promptly plops down.

On his face.

Thatch bursts out laughing at the muffled grunt Ace lets out (he can’t blame him – Sweet Pea must weigh at _least_ 100 pounds). Marco simply sighs, walking around Ace’s prone figure and going over to where Ace’s caretakers are watching amusedly and introducing himself.

“Good luck with that, Ace,” Thatch chuckles, giving Sweet Pea a pat on the head as he walks around Ace, going to say hi to the crazy people who managed to raise Ace.

(Then again, given the stories Ace told them on the way there, he supposes they didn’t really raise him – only kept him alive.

He shrugs. That’s just as impressive in his book.)

(He then shudders, imagining the little _beast_ Ace must have been as a kid.)

(He does _not_ want to know.)

“Did she just fall asleep on my face?!” Ace’s muffled voice asks, and Thatch loses his shit again.

He is _never_ going to let Ace forget this.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

“Sweet Pea, I kind of need to breathe.”

Sweet Pea promptly ignores him, snuggling closer to him and letting out a rumbling purr, and _shit_ , Ace had missed her.

He’d found her when he was fourteen – he and Luffy were wandering around the forest, like they did every day, when suddenly they had found a limping, whimpering tiger cub. Normally, the sight of a wounded animal would mean easy dinner for them, but this was different – this one was helpless, no fight left to be seen, and a baby.

Luffy, being the best with animals out of the two of them (when he’s not trying to eat them, anyway), reached out a hand, beckoning the tiger over with soft words and a reassuring smile. Ace awkwardly stood off to the side, feeling way out of his depth.

The tiger had limped over, whimpering in pain (each sound making pangs go through Ace’s heart), and, once reaching Luffy, had sniffed his hand before doing something Ace didn’t expect.

It kept walking, limping painfully until it reached Ace – when it promptly sniffed at Ace’s ankle, and curled up against him. Ace stood there, frozen.

Ace hated how his heart melted right then and there.

Of course, his hatred for that didn’t last long. As soon as he’d carefully scooped the tiger up at Luffy’s prompting, and seen how it curled into his hands, seemingly seeking the warmth that he naturally exuded, he felt himself falling love with it.

He thought, smiling softly and cradling the tiger cub closer, _I am never getting rid of her._

He had already internally named her Sweet Pea by the time they had arrived back at Dadan’s place, and accidentally called her that while she was getting treated – startling a bright laugh from his brother and a chorus of snickers from everyone else.

Ace glared at them, _daring_ them to comment.

They quickly shut up.

Soon enough, Sweet Pea had healed, and was trotting along after them wherever they went – sticking close to Ace (he _still_ doesn’t know how he became her favorite – Luffy blames it on his natural body heat, to which Ace had snarked, “That explains why you’re always snuggling up to me too, I guess.”)

(Luffy had just agreed, saying, “Yeah! I love snuggling with you!” with a beaming smile, and Ace doesn’t even know why he thought his brother would react any differently.)

She quickly grew to be strong, and would wander off on her own every once in a while to do tiger-things, but would always come back.

He had missed her constant presence when he had left.

(That’s the main reason he had been so adamant about bringing Kotatsu on board – he _needed_ a new fluffy animal companion.)

(Plus, it’s fun seeing how people react to a giant lynx wandering around when they go into town – or even on the ship sometimes.)

Just because he missed her, however, does not mean he’s content to being suffocated to death by her.

“Seriously, Sweet Pea, get-” He shoves her off of him, ignoring the betrayed meow she lets out, “- _off._ ”

He sighs in relief as he can finally breathe freely, rubbing his neck to get rid of the divots from where his necklace had dug in while his little shit of a tiger decided she wanted to try to welcome him back by suffocating him.

Looking up, he is met with the amused faces of both his crewmates and Dadan’s crew, and feels himself flushing as he registers that they had seen all of that.

“…I’m never going to live that down, am I,” Ace sighs, standing and grinning sheepishly at his family, old and new.

Thatch says brightly, “Nope!” Marco’s smirk betrays the same thing, and Ace already knows Dadan will tease him for absolutely _anything_ he does (though, this is far from the most embarrassing thing he’s done in front of either group, so he really doesn’t need to worry).

“You ever gonna actually say hi, brat?” Dadan grunts, pretending to be disinterested. Ace isn’t fooled. He can see her cataloguing all the changes he’s undergone since he left out of the corners of her eyes – looking at his tattoos with a critical eye (he can see her eyes soften as her eyes catch on his homage for Sabo, and he smiles sadly, glancing at it as well).

Ace says cheekily, “Technically, I’ve already said hi, but hi, old hag! And the rest of you!” He can hear Thatch and Marco choke on a laugh at his rudeness, and he just grins as Dadan reddens in anger and the rest of the bandits hide their snickers behind her.

He had missed this.

“Yeah, yeah, brat, take your tiger now that you’re here, will you? She won’t stop scratching at the doors at night looking for you, and it’s really getting on my nerves.” She turns to head back into the hut, and then throws over her shoulder, “Oh, and take that brat of a little brother of you with you, too, will you? He’s been driving me nuts since you left.”

“Missed you too!” He calls after her, and she scoffs.

(Ace grins as he notices her swipe at her eyes briefly).

She makes to slam the door behind her before her eyes catch on something on him and she stops still in shock, turning around fully to stare at him.

He frowns in confusion, scanning himself for what might have caught her attention, before his eyes fall on his necklace.

_Ah._

“What-” Dadan says, shakily pointing at the red beads on his neck that mirror the ones draping over hers, “-is that?”

Ace laughs sheepishly, bringing a hand behind his head and smiling shyly up at her. “I wanted another reminder of home, I guess?”

Dadan stares at him blankly, before turning sharply, trying to hide the sudden tears that Ace can see are trailing down her face. She yells without looking at him, “Get out of here already, you brat!”

Ace grins.

He didn’t miss the fondness in her voice.

He sends a friendly wave at all the other bandits, saying, “Nice seeing you all! I’ll be back for dinner!” before turning and heading back into the woods, Marco and Thatch following behind him. Sweet Pea darts next to him, pressing against his leg as he walks.

Dadan pokes her head out as they’re entering the forest, eyes red but dry, and calls out, “Hey! Come over later and I’ll show you embarrassing pictures of this brat!”

Ace freezes.

_No_.

His crewmates, his horrible, _horrible_ crewmates share a sly grin before Thatch calls back, “Will do!”

Ace turns and strides purposefully into the forest.

He is _not_ dealing with this.

Thatch catches up easily, throwing an arm around his shoulders. Ace, without looking at him, deadpans, “You’re both horrible.”

“Don’t be like that!” Thatch says cheerfully, but then sobers up slightly, smile softening. “So that’s your adoptive family, huh?” Ace lets the teasing go (for now), and allows himself a soft smile, the warmth of being surrounded by parts of his two families still not having left him.

“Yeah,” He says softly, throwing a grin at Marco as he comes up on his other side, nudging him softly. “Dadan’s a hag and everyone’s a little bit crazy, but they’re family.”

He shares a knowing grin with the two of them – their family’s definitely one of the most dysfunctional out there, of course they understand what he’s saying. They wander a little bit further before Marco asks, “Well, what’s next?”

Ace smirks at them, and snorts internally at the instant looks of suspicion they have on their faces. He’s not even trying to mess with them!

…Much.

“Now,” Ace says mischievously, “We find my dumbass little brother, and you get to learn the insanity that is Monkey D. Luffy.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------

“So, where are we going again?”

“Our old training grounds.”

Marco says something in response, but Ace tunes him out, sweeping his eyes from side to side as he searches for any sign that his little brother had been here.

…Of course, signs of destruction are everywhere, so it’s really not helpful.

(Why does Luffy have to be so destructive?)

(…He’s really not one to talk, is he.)

Ace shakes himself from _that_ train of thoughts, laughing as they come across yet _another_ utterly destroyed tree. His brother must have been having a blast training today.

Or his Gramps is here.

…He _really_ hopes his Gramps isn’t here.

“Has your brother always been this destructive?” Thatch asks, and Ace laughs at the sheer disbelief emanating from his brother.

Marco cuts Thatch a look, a deadpan stare on his face as he says, “You do realize you’re talking to the idiot who destroyed multiple forests due to getting too excited in a fight, destroyed the railings more than once because of trying to fight Pops, and has destroyed multiple other things due to his devil fruit, right, yoi?”

Ace frowns. He’s really not sure whether he should be offended by that.

(Marco called him an idiot. He’ll settle on offended.)

“I’m not an idiot,” Ace protests, and both Thatch and Marco shoot him disbelieving looks at that – okay, maybe he deserves that.

Maybe.

“I’m not even going to touch that,” Thatch mutters, turning away from Ace and responding to Marco in a louder tone of voice. “Okay, yeah, it makes sense that Ace’s little brother would be just as destructive as him, but _still_ , this is a lot.”

Ace says offhandedly, following the trail of most-recently-broken trees (and, no, he doesn’t know how he can tell – it’s just a trick he’s learned over the years), “This is more than normal – Luffy’s probably trying out something new. But yes, he’s always been incredibly destructive.”

_Hopefully he doesn’t accidentally catch us with it,_ Ace thinks amusedly. Seeing his brothers’ reactions to getting hit would be funny, though. Unfortunately, they’re also much better at sensing inadvertent attacks than he is, so it’s more likely his own brother would catch him in an attack and he’d get laughed at than the opposite.

Of course, that’s moot point because Ace has just noticed sure signs that his brother has been here recently – still-warm embers of a fire, and a skeleton just behind it.

Ace grins. His brother is close.

(His brother, who he hasn’t see in three years. His brother, who was the first one to accept him, to _love_ him for who he is. His brother, who always knew how to brighten up even the darkest of Ace’s days.

He can’t wait to see him again.)

A yell startles the birds out from the trees above Ace’s head, and Ace’s grin brightens – that’s Luffy’s voice. He starts jogging in the direction that it came from, tuning out Marco and Thatch’s following him as excitement overwhelms him.

Ace comes to a stop just outside a clearing – _the_ clearing. He can still see the scoreboard that he and Luffy had been sure to keep protected (it’s one of the only reminders of Sabo they have. Like hell they would let it get damaged). Their treehouse is nearby, he knows, though he also knows Luffy likely stays away from it, just like they had done ever since the fire.

(Too many memories. They had made sure to maintain it – of course they did, it’s another reminder of _him_ – but it’s just too painful to stay in it all the time.)

Luffy’s standing in the middle of the clearing, not having noticed Ace yet, a concentrated frown on his face as he stares down the boulder in front of him. He must have dragged it here on his own – that alone is testament to how much he’s grown, and Ace can feel a proud smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he takes in the changes in his brother.

_He’s gotten taller,_ Ace notes with a bittersweet grin. Gone are the days when Luffy was barely up to Ace’s shoulders – now, he’s definitely at least up to Ace’s cheeks (though, he’s definitely never going to be taller than Ace – he can’t help but feel relieved at that). He’s just as skinny as he had been when Ace first left, and unfortunate side-effect to the devil fruit he consumed.

(Luffy had always been bitter that he could never build the muscular figure Ace ended up developing – naturally, that had caused Ace to lord it over him every single time it was brought up.)

He can tell he’s grown stronger, though; his stance firmer and more confident than Ace had ever seen it.

He’s brought out of his thoughts by Marco and Thatch arriving on either side of him, both of them looking at Luffy contemplatively as he prepares to hit the boulder blocking at least half the clearing from view. Luffy rears up, his trademarked call on his lips.

“Gomu Gomu no…Pistol!”

Luffy’s fist hits the boulder with a satisfying crunch, destroying the top half of it completely, and Ace feels pride fill him as Luffy lets out a loud cheer at his success.

“Not bad,” Thatch mutters consideringly, and Ace smiles proudly as Marco nods in agreement.

His little brother has grown strong.

He’d be lying if it didn’t make him feel relieved.

Luffy’s about to rear up for another punch to destroy the rest of it, _still_ not having noticed them, (Ace snickers internally at the fact that his brother is just as spatially unaware as he used to be), when Ace calls out, “Don’t mess up!”

Luffy, of course, completely messes up, punching way wide and almost punching himself in the face as he whirls around to face Ace. He looks eerily like his seven-year-old self as he stares at Ace, his confused head-tilt on full-force. Then, recognition shines in his eyes, and Ace grins as his little brother’s face lights up, a beaming smile appearing on his face.

“Ace!” Ace laughs as Luffy launches himself at him, catching him with ease. Warmth fills him as Luffy clings onto him – shit, he had _missed_ this kid. Not having Luffy waking him up at godawful hours, or laughing as they hunted, or talking with him as they stared up at the stars at night had been _weird_ when he had first set out.

Being back with him now, Ace feels himself relax completely, soaking in the feeing of having his brother back with him.

No matter how much he loves his family, he will always feel the most at home with Luffy.

“What are you doing here?! Not that I’m not happy to see you, but you’re supposed to be on the Grand Line and being a great pirate and having a lot of fun adventures and-” Luffy cuts off as he finally notices Marco and Thatch hanging out to the side, watching the both of them amusedly. Luffy tilts his head to the side, and-

“You look like a pineapple.”

Silence. And then-

Marco groans, facepalming, and Ace and Thatch burst into laughter, Ace having to clutch onto Luffy to keep himself upright. Luffy, bless his soul, just watches, a bright, unknowing grin on his face as he watches Ace and Thatch lose their shit.

“Why,” Marco mumbles into his hand, and that just sends another round of hysterics through Ace.

He chokes out through his laughs, “God, I missed you, Luffy,”

His brother simply laughs brightly and says, “I missed you too! But you still haven’t answered my question! Why are you here?”

“What,” Ace begins teasingly, “I can’t come visit my little brother on a whim?” Luffy gives him a deadpan stare, which looks _really_ wrong on his face.

“Makino told me you were in the Grand Line, and even _I_ know how far that is, Ace.”

Ace laughs, conceding the point. “We’re on vacation, apparently.” Luffy glances towards where Marco and Thatch are (Thatch is still chuckling over Luffy’s statement from earlier, and Marco is standing there, crossed-armed, giving Thatch an unimpressed glare for laughing.)

Luffy turns back, and says, “Okay!” Luffy’s easy acceptance causes surprise to flicker across his crewmates’ faces, and Ace snickers.

_That’s how Luffy’s always been_ , Ace thinks fondly, _always accepting everything told to him genuinely at face value._ Luffy’s never been the type to not accept the reasoning of others, (unless it’s “dumb and stupid,” in his little brother’s own words). Ace’s own experience with Luffy’s charisma pops into mind, and a flash of shame at how he treated his brother at first flashes though him before he shoves it down.

Luffy never blamed him for that. Ace really needs to let that time in his life go.

“Anyway!” Ace says, breaking himself from his thoughts. “The pineapple is Marco,” Ace can already tell he’s going to catch hell for that later; he promptly decides he doesn’t care. “And the dude _still_ dying on the ground is Thatch. They’re my crewmates!”

Luffy’s face goes blank, and he furrows his brows, staring into Marco and Thatch (who has just stood up)’s eyes, seeming to see right through them. Ace has no idea what his brother is looking for, but leaves it be as his crewmates don’t seem uncomfortable, just curious as Luffy stares at them.

His brother must have found what he was looking for, because his bright grin returns and he says, bounding up to them, “Hi, Ace’s family!”

Ace can tell Marco and Thatch are mildly caught off-guard by the sudden shift, but they take it in stride, Thatch grinning and saying, “Nice to meet the little brother that Ace will never shut up about.”

“Emphasis on _never_ , yoi,” Marco says, stepping up beside Thatch and offering his hand to Luffy, who takes it and swings it aggressively in his interpretation of a handshake.

(Ace snickers at the mild bafflement on his crewmates’ faces.

That’s Luffy for you, always causing confusion.)

“Have you already visited Makino? And Dadan?” Luffy asks turning his neck disturbingly far to face Ace, and there’s no judgement there, just curiosity as he stares at him.

Ace nods, “Yeah, I visited them first because I figured I’d want to spend the most time with you, so I got those out of the way first.” Luffy lets out a bright laugh and grabs onto his hand, Ace’s mild surprise at the physical contact fading as his familiarity with his brother’s habits grows again.

Marco and Thatch seem to take that as their cue, turning away from where Luffy is attempting to herd Ace towards. “Ace, we’re going to head back to the ship. I’ll let Pops know you’re going to be back late; have fun with your brother, yoi.”

Ace grins and waves over his shoulder, his brother already tugging him further into the clearing – evidently, he’s decided he wants a spar. His brother is obviously excited to spend time with him, and Ace smiles softly – he’s still not gotten used to this pure joy that Luffy always exudes around him, even almost ten years later.

He’s secretly glad it hasn’t faded, though.

Sweet Pea comes from wherever she’d been, rubbing up against both their legs and falling into step beside Ace, who rubs his free hand against her head fondly. Luffy tugs him forward impatiently, and Ace follows after him indulgently, content in simply following his brother.

Content in being with the one who first made life worthwhile.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

Luffy tugs at Ace’s hand impatiently – Ace is here, his big brother’s _here_! Like hell he’s going to miss an opportunity to train with him again.

Ace catches up to him, shoulder bumping him and grinning, and Luffy snickers as they make their way over to where they always train – or start training, at least, they always seem to end up in weird places after they train. Luffy has no idea how that happens.

Oh, well. It’s a mystery.

Ace stalls suddenly, and Luffy frowns in confusion before his eyes catch on what Ace’s staring at, and he smiles softly as he looks over at it.

The scoreboard that he, Ace, and Sabo used to use is still there. He and Ace had decided, all those years ago, that they were not going to touch it. Their brother’s handwriting, proof of his care, of his love, would be immortalized.

They would never let any reminder of Sabo get washed away.

A little canopy stands over it. One day, Ace and Luffy had come back to the clearing to realize that the rain had nearly washed all the chalk away, and, horrified and determined not to let it happen again, Ace had enlisted Dadan’s help and created the canopy that still protects it today.

The sake cups that they toasted with that day still hang, pinned to the side of the scoreboard in a bag – yet another memory of their lost brother.

Luffy is brought out of his memories by Ace stepping forward, ducking under the canopy and kneeling down in front of the scoreboard and examining it closely.

“You took good care of it, huh?” With a soft smile, Ace gently brushes his fingers over the scoreboard; over the faded, but still visible, numbers that their lost brother had once etched, and Luffy nods.

“Of course I did!” he says, grinning. It’s one of the only things they have left of Sabo, after all – he’s not going to let it get ruined. Just like their treehouse, and the sake cups. None of those things will ever be ruined, if Luffy has anything to say about it, which he _does_.

Ace scooches out from under the canopy and stands, scanning the surrounding area. He spends a few more moments taking in the familiar sights of their home. Luffy pouts as Ace snorts at the sight of yet another tree Luffy had left dents in (it’s not his fault! His devil fruit was hard to control – it’s really cool, though!)

Soon enough, Ace gives the old scoreboard one last fond look before turning and grinning at Luffy, and Luffy grins back, anticipation tightening his muscles and causing adrenaline to course through his veins.

Ace cracks his knuckles, saying, “You ready to go, Luffy?” Luffy nods eagerly, and Ace continues, “100 fights, you know the drill.”

“I’m going to beat you!”

Ace smirks cockily – oh, there’s one thing Luffy had _not_ missed about his older brother – his undying confidence still rankles at him. He’s gotten stronger. Ace should be scared!

“Yeah, no.”

“I will!”

“Good luck with that.” And when Ace sticks out his tongue at Luffy, that’s the last straw, and Luffy launches himself at his brother with a war cry. He’s going to make Ace realize how much stronger he’s gotten.

He goes to punch Ace, and instead of dodging like Luffy had expected, Ace just stands there, cocky grin still firmly on his face. _Huh,_ Luffy thinks, a grin making its way onto his face. _I might have a chance after all!_

He awaits the satisfying feeling of a punch landing, but instead, once he makes contact with his face his hand just…goes through? And feels warm?

Off balance by his hand not landing like he expected it to, Ace easily sweeps his legs out from under him, pinning him to the ground and grinning at him.

Luffy sits up, for once not annoyed that he lost, and exclaims, “What was that?! Did you eat a devil fruit too?!”

Ace picks himself off of Luffy and nods, beckoning Luffy closer. Luffy edges closer to Ace and watches in excitement as Ace grins, bringing his hand up.

Bright flames erupt, and Luffy flinches back slightly – flashes of memories of fire, blood, fear, _I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, it’s too hot, Ace, I’m_ scared – assaulting his brain. He then firmly shakes his head, forcing his fears away.

Ace would never hurt him. Since Ace is fire, his fire will never hurt him, either.

“So cool,” Luffy says in awe, and, without hesitation, Luffy reaches forward to feel the flames. Ace jerks back as Luffy reaches for it, frowning reproachfully at Luffy. Luffy frowns right back at his older brother, saying, “What’d you do that for?!”

Ace gives Luffy a look. “Luffy, this is _fire_! I’m not going let you burn yourself on me! Punching through me is different than just _sticking_ your hand in!”

Is Ace dumb?

Luffy says simply, “Ace’s fire is Ace too, and I know you’d never hurt me.”

Determined, Luffy reaches for the flame again, and Ace finally lets him, brows furrowed in concentration. Luffy finally touches the flame, and lets out an awed noise as the flames flicker around his fingers; the warmth comforting and no burning to be found. He doesn’t miss the relieved sigh Ace lets out, but ignores it in favor of soaking in Ace’s fire.

The fire feels like _Ace_ ; feels like his laughter, always warm and wrapping Luffy up with joy; feels like his stories, and how they always make Luffy’s day brighter; feels like his hugs, always comforting and loving.

It feels like _home_.

How could Ace ever think he would ever feel like anything _but_ home?

Luffy flashes a bright grin at Ace, and Ace grins back, finally relaxing as he lets his flames recede back under his skin. He ruffles Luffy’s hair, startling a laugh from him. Ace then jumps up, and Luffy mirrors him, twin eager grins on their faces as they regain their fighting poses.

Ace says, “Well, we still have 99 fights left – why don’t you show me what you’ve got, Lu?” Luffy grins, excitement returning as he stares down his brother.

“Yeah!” Luffy launches himself at his brother a second time, intent on showing his brother how much he’s grown since he’s been gone.

Intent on proving he’s strong, now.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

Ace laughs as Luffy collapses on the ground, 100 fights obviously having taken their toll on Ace’s little brother.

“Tired?” Ace says teasingly, and Luffy musters up the energy to tilt his head up and glare mulishly at him.

“Leave me alone! Your devil fruit is cheating, cheater!”

“I used it like, three times!” Ace protests, but he can’t keep a grin off his face as Luffy pouts at him, looking _just_ like his seven-year-old self. Luffy sits up then, arms crossed and still pouting at Ace.

He looks away from Ace, jutting his bottom lip out and saying, “Still cheating.”

Ace snorts, but plops down in front of his little brother, who instantly loses his grumpy face and scooches closer, brushing his knees against Ace’s. Luffy leans forward eagerly, and Ace knows what Luffy’s going to say before a single sound escapes his little brother.

“Tell me about your adventures!”

Ace grins, nudging the brim of his little brother’s hat back up over his head. Luffy laughs, bright smile fully on display, and Ace leans back on his hands, looking up through the trees at the clear, blue sky, and considers where to start.

Well, the beginning would probably be good.

“Ah, man, Luffy – first off, you gotta know – my crew’s incredible,” Ace begins, lips turned up into a small smile. “It all started on this one island – you wouldn’t know it by name, but it had some _crazy_ currents and I got stranded on it…”

Ace goes on to tell Luffy about finding his crew – meeting Deuce, who would become Ace’s best friend and closest confidant; meeting Skull and his endless knowledge; meeting Banshee and her… _interesting_ cooking; meeting Mihar, and Kotatsu, and Saber, and the rest. He tells Luffy about how much he trusts them, and loves them – and how he would do _anything_ for them.

He shares stories from his journey – shares his escapades with Isuka and how, even though she’s a marine, he would trust her with his life.

(Though it seems she doesn’t trust him with hers.)

“They’re not here, unfortunately,” Ace says wryly. Not everyone had been able to come on vacation, and his crew is currently patrolling the New World on one of the other Mobys. And, of course, Isuka’s still with the Marines.

It’s a shame. He would’ve liked for his old crew to meet his little brother.

“What happened next?” Luffy demands, smiling excitedly. Ace grins back.

“Well, I met Shanks.”

“You met _Shanks_?”

Ace laughs at the delighted gasp Luffy let out, saying, “Yeah. He’s excited for you to get out there, by the way.” Luffy laughs brightly, bringing his hands up and clutching at his hat, bringing the brim a little lower on his face.

“Shanks,” he whispers, giggling, and Ace’s smile softens at the pure joy shining in his little brother’s eyes.

(There’s nothing quite as joyful to Ace as Luffy’s happiness, even all these years later.)

“Anyway,” Ace draws Luffy’s attention back to him, “Then, things got a little…crazy, to say the least.” Luffy grins excitedly.

Ace tells him about finding Wano, lips twisting into a slight frown as he remembers the pure desolation that met him and his crew when he landed there; the weariness that weighed down everyone’s shoulders and the wails that suffocated every village; the way the Flower Capitol flourished while everything else wasted away around it.

He tells him about Tama, and how she had been a bright spot in the misery, still optimistic and happy even as her stomach grumbled with every word. Luffy’s face goes blank when he mentions that, hands clenching tightly in anger. “No one should go hungry when there’s food available,” Luffy whispers angrily, and Ace agrees quietly before continuing.

“We couldn’t do anything, there,” Ace admits, frowning deeply, shame pooling in his gut. “Kaido was firmly in power, and we just didn’t have the power to change things there.”

“When I go out,” Luffy says suddenly, “I’ll make it so that your friend can eat every day.” Luffy’s glaring at the ground, and Ace, pride welling in his chest, smiles slightly.

“I look forward to it. Though, I bet I can get there first,” Ace teases, and Luffy puffs up, ready to argue when Ace laughs, holding a hand up. “Let me finish my story,” He says, grinning, and Luffy sits back reluctantly, pouting.

Ace leans back on his hands again, grin softening into a small, wondrous smile as memories rush through him. “Then…I found my family.”

Luffy’s grin gets wider and wider as Ace waxes poetic about his journey with his crew, cheering at him being able to fight Jinbe on equal footing (though, there was no surprise there, just excitement – it’s as if Luffy believes he can beat anyone); laughing at his admission of stubbornly fighting for 100 days against joining his crew; smiling softly as Ace talks about Marco, and Thatch, and Izo, and Haruta, and how they’ve all become his new family.

“You’d love all of them, Luffy,” Ace says, and Luffy laughs.

“Of course I would! They’re your family!”

Luffy’s looking at him as if the very idea of him disliking any of Ace’s family is stupid, and Ace shakes his head fondly. Of course, Luffy wouldn’t doubt anyone Ace chose for himself. “You still haven’t told me much about your captain, though,” Luffy says, frowning.

“Right.” Looking up at the sky, Ace smiles.

“Pops is…incredible. He never once doubted that I would join the crew, even as everyone else did. He always made sure I was taken care of – that my crew was taken care of. Even if he kicked my ass every day,” He laughs. “I still don’t know what he saw in me, that day,” Ace admits, quieter, and Luffy frowns, as if the very idea of Ace being unsure of himself is incomprehensible.

He makes to say something, but Ace continues, saying, “I don’t think I’ve seen him smile brighter than he did, that day, when I officially joined the crew.” Even remembering that fond smile, curved around the mug of grog in Whitebeard’s hand, Ace feels warmth rush through him, lips curving into a small, delighted smile.

“And then,” Ace says, with a hint of awe, “When I was asked to be Second Division Commander, I told him about…you know.” Understanding sparks in Luffy’s eyes as Ace continues, “He didn’t even care. He just said, ‘ _We’re all children of the sea_.’ He just…accepted me, just like that.”

Luffy gives Ace a look, deadpanning, like Ace is stupid, “Well, of course he would! He’s your dad, isn’t he?”

“Well, I suppose, but-” Ace cuts himself off, gnawing on his bottom lip as he tries to find the words to get across what he’s trying to say.

It’s just-

How does he explain to Luffy – his loving, kind, everything-that-is-good-in-the-world little brother – what it was like, growing up the child of the Devil? How does he explain the days, hour after hour, systematically going to bar to bar and asking the same question: ‘ _What if the Pirate King had a kid_ ’? How does he explain the resounding, unanimous answer of, ‘ _He doesn’t deserve to live_ ’?

How does he explain the days following each of those visits, sitting on that cliff and thinking, ‘ _I don’t deserve to live_ ’?

How does he explain how much it meant to him, finding someone who doesn’t care – who just sees him as _Portgas D. Ace, child of the Sea_ , and not the _Gol D. Ace, the son of the Pirate King_?

Luffy doesn’t care about people’s past; where people come from. He would never understand the depth of hatred that people hold for Ace – for the one who carries the blood of the devil.

Ace is glad he won’t.

Luffy – kind, loving, joyful – should never feel that hatred; feel that self-loathing; feel that _despair_ ; ever-present and never-ending.

Luffy’s too precious, to _happy_ , to experience that.

“It’s…complicated,” Ace finally settles on, but from the skeptical glare on Luffy’s face, that’s not going to be enough for him.

He says, “No, it’s not. Who cares who your dad was? Ace is Ace!” Ace swallows around the sudden knot in his throat, looking at his little brother with something a little like awe.

(Somehow, he’s forgotten just how easily Luffy can get right to the heart of the matter.

In Luffy’s mind, Ace is just that – Ace. He’s Luffy’s big brother, and that’s all that’s ever mattered to him. The past doesn’t matter. Luffy’s love is pure and never-ending – and Ace, somehow, gets all of it, regardless of the cursed blood in his veins.

How was he lucky enough to find a brother like Luffy?)

Luffy lays his head on Ace’s lap, and says sleepily, “Ace is the best. Of course, they love you.”

Ace can’t stop a couple of tears from trailing down his cheeks, and he smiles softly as Luffy settles his head in Ace’s lap. Ace brushes his hair aside gently, smiling wondrously as his brother relaxes, utterly at ease. One thought, familiar and ever-present, cycles through Ace’s mind.

_What did I do to deserve you?_

Ace, a sin, a blot on the world. Luffy, bright, bold, _loving_. They’re so, so, completely different, yet Luffy chose him – calls him _his_.

Despite everything, Luffy loves him.

Luffy curls in slightly, grabbing blindly at Ace’s shorts, and Ace’s heart clenches at the instant relaxing of his little brother when Ace tentatively slides a hand under his and Luffy immediately grips onto it.

Ace is the luckiest man in the world.

Luffy’s breathing evens out, and Ace continues gently running a hand through Luffy’s hair – longer, now, than it had been when Ace left. It’s peaceful; the birds are chirping, the wind is brushing over them, and, when Sweet Pea nudges her way under Ace’s other arm, he finally lets himself relax.

He leans back against Sweet Pea’s side, and closes his suddenly-heavy eyelids.

He’s never felt warmer as he does now, lap pillowing his little brother’s head and surrounded by _home_.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

Dadan sighs aggravatedly, stomping through the forest.

That _brat_ had said that he’d be back for dinner, and her family – the traitors – had protested that Ace had promised to come back and that they won’t eat without him. They’d whined, and whined, and _whined_ until Dadan had finally agreed to go looking for him just to get them to _shut up_.

So now, here she is, stomping through the forest and looking for two utter brats.

_Thank god those two are utterly predictable_ , Dadan grumbles internally, making her way towards the clearing she knows the two (formerly three) used to use for training. She’d be shocked if they weren’t still there, either talking or launching themselves at each other.

They’ve caused way too much damage in her hut due to them roughhousing.

(No, she does not leave some of the less-prominent holes as mementos of them, what are you _talking_ about.)

Finally, she reaches the clearing, though it’s much…quieter, than she would have expected. Ace and Luffy are anything _but_ quiet, after all. She emerges through the trees, and, despite herself, softens and feels her lips curve into a fond smile.

Her brats are both laying on the ground, Luffy’s head in Ace’s lap and Ace leaning against Sweet Pea’s side. They’re all sound asleep, snoring loudly and probably would be attracting all sorts of trouble if the wildlife didn’t know better than to attack them by now.

(Luffy’s clutching Ace’s hand. The fingers of Ace’s other hand are resting on Luffy’s forehead, as if he fell asleep stroking his hair.

_Fuck_ , she loves these boys.)

Catching a glimpse of dull red around Ace’s neck, she sniffs slightly, swiping at the corners of her eyes.

She never would have thought Ace – the bitter, cold little boy she knew from infancy to the fierce, protective man she sees in front of her – would have chosen to memorialize her like this.

These boys live to surprise her, she supposes.

However, no matter how much fondness she feels for these boys at the moment, she’s also hungry, so she musters the willpower to kick into Ace’s side and Luffy’s hips, grunting, “Wake up, brats, it’s time for food.” Luffy promptly ignores her, nuzzling into Ace’s side and curling tighter against himself.

Ace cracks an eye open and groans aloud upon seeing her, which she feels she should be _very_ offended by, and says resignedly, “You’re not gonna let us escape this, are you.”

Cheerfully, just like she learned from her three brats, “Nope!”

Ace groans again, but sits up, nudging Luffy none-too-gently with his thigh and saying, “C’mon, Lu, time to get up.”

Luffy ignores him and lets out a loud snore.

Ace sighs, gets up fully, and kicks him in the side. “Get _up_ , Luffy, or do you not want food?”

Food is the buzzword, apparently, and Luffy sits up immediately, alert and looking around intently. “Food?!”

Dadan sighs (fondly, despite her best wishes).

“Not here, Lu. We have to go back to Dadan’s place.” Luffy launches upwards, an excited smile adorning his face, and he immediately grabs Ace’s hand, dragging him in the direction of Dadan’s.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s _go_!” Luffy says incessantly, and Ace sighs in annoyance, though Dadan can see his lips curving up into a reluctant smile.

_If Ace from ten years ago could see himself now, he’d lose his shit,_ Dadan thinks amusedly.

They start making their way towards Dadan’s, Luffy leading the way, talking excitedly about anything and everything, before he stops dead. Whirling around to face Ace, he points at him and demands, “Give me a shoulder ride.”

Dadan snorts as Ace looks at his little brother incredulously. “Luffy, it’s been _years_ since I’ve given you one of those. Why _now_?!”

“ _Because_ it’s been years! I’ve missed them!”

“Well, too bad, because you’re way too big now.”

Luffy pouts. “I thought you were strong, now.” Ace stops short, and Luffy continues mischievously, “I guess you must not be that strong if you can’t even give me a shoulder ride.”

Ace stares at his brother for a moment, and Dadan laughs out loud at the myriad emotions (confusion, annoyance, fondness, etc, etc.) flitting their way across Ace’s face. He then settles on resignation, sighing and saying, “C’mere, Lu.”

Luffy _beams_ , and immediately launches himself at Ace – wrapping him in a hug, which does _not_ help with the whole shoulder-ride idea. Ace manages to wrangle Luffy up there, and Luffy laughs happily, hands on Ace’s head for stability as Ace casually walks forward.

“Don’t bang your head on anything,” he calls up teasingly.

“Ace, if you try to hit me into stuff, I _swear-_ ”

Dadan follows the two boys, fond smile on her lips and quiet amusement in her chest as she listens to the bickering between them.

She had _missed_ her boys.

She’s glad they’re back, safe and sound.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

The next couple weeks pass in a whirlwind.

Ace’s crew, understanding of Ace’s need to spend time with his little brother, decided to stay for a while in Foosha, saying, “Well, it’s a really nice village and Makino-san somehow has enough booze for all of us, so may as well stay, right?”

Ace had tried to temper his excitement when, a few days later, they said they wanted to stay another week, but he’s not sure he managed.

(The secretive smiles Marco and his Pops had shared when they thought he wasn’t looking gave away have he definitely didn’t.)

Luffy meeting with his crew is probably the funniest thing Ace has ever seen – seeing his crew’s reactions to Luffy seeing his Pops, frowning at him for two seconds, before promptly challenging him to a fight and declaring that he would be the Pirate King? Absolutely priceless.

Seeing his crew react to Luffy inhaling a table full of food in 2 seconds? Also hilarious.

Seeing his crew react to Luffy, later, launching himself at his Pops because, “He looks like he tells good stories!” and promptly settling himself on his lap? The best thing Ace’s ever seen.

(His Pops had simply laughed, indulging his little brother without even attempting to hide his fondness.

He _loves_ his family so much.)

The looks of mild bafflement every time Luffy had done something particularily Luffyish always make Ace crack up.

Ace doesn’t think he’ll _ever_ get sick of people reacting to his little brother’s craziness.

(Seeing his crew react and make fun of his baby pictures when Dadan had come down to the village one day? Less hilarious, and something he could definitely get sick of.

Really truly embarrassing, actually.

He’s never going to live it down, is he.)

With Luffy, it had almost been too easy to fall back into old habits – sparring every day for hours, breaking into Goa and pulling dines-and-dashes (which was absolutely _hilarious_ when they actually realized what his tattoo meant), driving Dadan insane with their antics – doing absolutely everything they could in the time they had.

Ace’s favorite part, though, was just spending time with his little brother. Hunting together, sparring, goofing off, and just talking for hours. At night, they would just look up at the stars, Luffy making up constellation names and Ace laughing and correcting him. Ace would tell stories from his journey, Luffy gasping and laughing excitedly at Ace’s mishaps. Luffy would laugh about how he broke into Goa and caused a riot to form, causing Ace to burst out laughing.

(Sweet Pea inserting herself into their personal space and laying all over them at any chance was a nice touch.)

Luffy would share, in a soft, reminiscent tone, how he made sure to take care of the treehouse and Sabo’s scoreboard. Ace would ruffle his hair fondly, thinking, _You’d be proud of him, Sabo._

Ace knows he is.

But, unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

Two weeks pass, and Marco regretfully informs Ace that they have to go.

Ace and Luffy’s response to simply grin and fist bump each other seemed to surprise Marco, for some reason.

(Ace doesn’t quite understand why.

After all, why would they be sad about leaving each other?)

“Have lots of adventures, Ace!” Luffy calls out from the dock, grinning. Makino stands next to him, a warm smile on her face as she waves goodbye.

Ace grins back. “Get into lots of trouble, Luffy! Have fun! Do crime!”

Woop Slap’s cry of, “Do _not_!” is drowned out by Luffy’s laughter and the village’s snickers.

Snickering, Ace turns and boards the ship, the laughter of his crewmates greeting him.

One last time, Ace looks back and addresses his little brother.

“I’ll see you on the high seas, Luffy!”

Luffy laughs, and Ace grins as they sail away.

(Why would they be sad, when they’re just going to see each other again?

They’re brothers. They’ll never be too far from each other, even if they separate for a while.)

Ace watches Dawn disappear over the horizon, then smiles, turning and joining his crew.

His little brother is going to cause _so_ much chaos when he sets out.

He can’t wait to see it.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

(“Come on, Kotatsu, please?”

Ace pouts as a chorus of laughs erupt in response to Kotatsu stubbornly ignoring him, growling before scuttling away from him, crawling onto Whitebeard’s lap. His Pops, the traitor, simply laughs and pats Kotatsu on the head, grinning cheekily at Ace. “I guess I’m the favorite now, Ace! Gurararara!”

Crossing his arms and pouting even more, he sends a sullen glare at his traitor of a lynx, who is now contently purring as Whitebeard strokes his spine with a single large finger.

“Fine. Be that way,” Ace sulks, plopping down by the railing and determinedly ignoring everyone around him. His crew, because they’re terrible, all lord over him that he’s being ignored by going up to Kotatsu, who accepts their praise with a smirk, because he’s _terrible_ (and yes, lynxes can smirk, shut up).

All of this just because he dared to pet another cat. How dare he, apparently.

At the laughs and cheers erupting from the crowd, Ace glares mulishly at the floor, picking at his sneakers and wrapping his arms around his knees, resting his head on it.

“Wow, he’s letting me pet him! He’s never let me do that before!”

Ace sits up indignantly at that. He’s now letting those he had religiously _ignored_ touch him? How is that fair?!

Marco comes over, patting him on the head patronizingly (he’s not a little kid, dammit, no matter _what_ everyone on this ship seems to think). “I’m sure he’ll forgive you eventually…maybe in a year or so.”

Marco smirks before walking off, and Ace ponders whether throwing his boot at him would be worth it.

_Nah. Too much effort._

Ace instead looks in the direction of the crowd still gathered around his Pops’ chair, propping his chin on his hand, scowling.

Another chorus of laughs erupt as Kotatsu buts his head against everyone who comes near him, and okay, now he’s truly just trying to mess with Ace.

Ace pouts, turning his head away from his terrible cat and _terrible_ crew.

Traitors.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!
> 
> This fic was actually born from the idea of Ace getting tackled by cats, and it just kind of expanded from there😂
> 
> Also, you may notice that this is part of a series! I'm planning on eventually writing fics for Sabo (post-timeskip) and Luffy (post-canon) that follow the premise of returning to Dawn Island, so if you'd be interested in seeing that be sure to subscribe to the series!
> 
> (And yes, Ace's death is still canon in this. Yes, I'm sad about it too.😞)
> 
> Anyways, thank you again so much for reading, and let me know what you think if you feel like it! :D
> 
> ([My Tumblr](https://sarahwritesss.tumblr.com/)!)


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